You may delay, but time will not. – Benjamin Franklin

Good reminder for a Monday morning.

Don’t delay.

Get to work.

Make some progress.

Make it a great day.

Jake

https://youtu.be/NfG47NsWVYA

Another classic that always seems to lift my spirits if I hear it somewhere.

Whenever you call me, I’ll be there

Whenever you want me, I’ll be there

Whenever you need me, I’ll be there

I’ll be around

And while I’d like to think about my dedication to my loved ones and my plans for being there for them when needed, I’m more inclined to remember all the times someone has been there for me.

I really have been blessed more than I deserve in this area.

So many have helped and been there for me along the way.

I’m sure that your story contains some of the same.

Reach out and thank someone today for being there for you.

Make it a great day.

Jake

People don’t notice whether it’s winter or summer when they’re happy. – Anton Chekhov

February 1st….winter’s not quite over yet.

This quote reminded me to make the most of and be happy with the rest of the winter.

It’s my choice after all….

Make it a great day.

Jake

Promise me you’ll remember, you are BRAVER than you believe, STRONGER than you seem, SMARTER than you think. – A.A. Milne

A.A. Milne is a favorite around our house.

I think it’s because of simple, wholesome quotes like this one.

I sincerely hope you remember today that all of the above are true about you.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Be grateful for what you have and stop complaining – it bores everybody else, does you no good, and doesn’t solve any problems. – Zig Ziglar

Zig really hits the nail on the head here.

One of the great things about being grateful is that while you are saying or thinking a positive thought you can’t simultaneously be thinking or saying a negative. Thus, for every positive thought or word you are cancelling out the possibility for a negative one.

Zig points out three things about complaining:

1. It bores everybody else.

2. It does you no good.

3. It doesn’t solve any problems.

We all have a lot to be thankful for. Let’s choose thoughts of gratitude today.

Make it a great day.

Jake

When we work for a bigger purpose, we find an endless supply of happiness at work. — Jon Gordon

I liked how he said “bigger” in front of purpose in this quote.

It’s easy to get stuck on find one purpose and the biggest reason we are here. There’s a lifetime of work for most of us on that one.

But a bigger purpose is pretty easy.

Instead of working for a paycheck we can be working for the team or serving the clients.

Instead of working out we can be losing some weight or getting more energy.

Instead of making lunches for the kids we can be packing up some love.

Find a way to add some more purpose into the mundane today.

Make it a great day.

Jake

https://youtu.be/_DHRGrIqmb0

This songs always lifts my spirits.

Some day, yeah

We’ll get it together and we’ll get it all done

Some day

When your head is much lighter

Some day, yeah

We’ll walk in the rays of a beautiful sun

Some day

When the world is much brighter

This to me is a great word picture of what it means to have faith.

Faith that it will all work out in the end.

Faith that the future really is a better place.

Faith (in the Christian sense) that God really did send his Son to die on the cross so that we can have a better and brighter eternity.

Fill yourself with this faith as you start the day.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Don’t think, just do. – Horace

A kiss that is never tasted, is forever and ever wasted. – Billie Holiday

Some days I go out and Google “quote of the day” and look through the last couple on Brainy Quote (usually) and pick one to write about.

These two were right after each other and seemed appropriate to share together.

We must have a bias towards action.

We must be willing to risk it.

Whether it be a kiss or a new job or a new business or a new friend.

Take action today.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Below is a great story about how important it is to give others a “good name” in our hearts and in our minds (and theirs).

Read the story and think about someone in your life that deserves this kind of treatment.

Maybe forward the story and tell them what they mean to you.

Make it a great day.

Jake

PS – Meaghan is a one million cow wife (probably the best compliment she’s gotten lately).

Johnny Lingo’s Eight-Cow Wife

by Patricia McGerr

When I visited the South Pacific islands, I took a notebook along. I had a three‐week leave between assignments in Japan, so I borrowed a boat and sailed to Kiniwata. The notebook was supposed to help me become a junior‐grade Maugham or Michener. But when I got back, among all my notes the only sentence that still interested me was the one that said, “Johnny Lingo gave eight cows to Sarita’s father.”

Johnny Lingo wasn’t exactly his name. But I wrote it down that way because I learned about the eight cows from Shenkin, the fat manager of the guest house at Kiniwata. He was from Chicago and had a habit of Americanizing the names of the islanders. He wasn’t the only one who talked about Johnny, though. His name came up with many people in many connections. If I wanted to spend a few days on the island of Nurabandi, a day’s sail away, Johnny Lingo could put me up, they told me, since he had built a five‐room house–unheard‐of luxury! If I wanted to fish, he could show me where the biting was best. If I wanted fresh vegetables, his garden was the greenest. If I sought pearls, his busi‐ness savvy would bring me the best buys. Oh, the people of Kiniwata all spoke highly of Johnny Lingo. Yet when they spoke, they smiled, and the smiles were slightly mocking.

“Get Johnny Lingo to help you find what you want, and then let him do the bargaining,” advised Shenkin, as I sat on the veranda of his guest house wondering whether to visit Nurabandi. “He’ll earn his commission four times over. Johnny knows values and how to make a deal.”

“Johnny Lingo!” The chubby boy on the veranda steps hooted the name, then hugged his knees and rocked with shrill laughter.

“What goes on?” I asked. “Everybody around here tells me to get in touch with Johnny Lingo and then breaks up. Let me in on the joke.”

“They like to laugh,” Shenkin said. He shrugged his heavy shoulders.

“And Johnny’s the brightest, the quickest, the strongest young man in all this group of islands. So they like best to laugh at him.”

“But if he’s all you say, what is there to laugh about?”

“Only one thing. Five months ago, at fall festival time, Johnny came to Kiniwata and found himself a wife. He paid her father eight cows!”

He spoke the last words with great solemnity. I knew enough about island customs to be thoroughly impressed. Two or three cows would buy a fair‐to‐middling wife; four or five a highly satisfactory one.

“Eight cows!” I said. “She must be a beauty who takes your breath away.”

“The kindest could only call Sarita plain,” was Shenkin’s answer. “She was skinny. She walked with her shoulders hunched and her head ducked. She was scared of her own shadow.”

“Then how do you explain the eight cows?”

“We don’t,” he said. “And that’s why the villagers grin when they talk about Johnny. They get special satisfaction from the fact that Johnny, the sharpest trader in the islands, was bested by Sarita’s father, dull old Sam Karoo.”

“Eight cows,” I said unbelievingly. “I’d like to meet this Johnny Lingo.”

So the next afternoon I sailed a boat to Nurabandi and met Johnny at his home, where I asked about his eight‐cow purchase of Sarita. I assumed he had done it for his own vanity and reputation–at least until Sarita walked into the room. She was the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. The lift of her shoulders, the tilt of her chin, the sparkle of her eyes all spelled a pride to which no one could deny her the right.

I turned back to Johnny Lingo after she had left. “You admire her?” he asked. “She . . . she’s glorious,” I said. “But she’s not Sarita from Kiniwata.” “There’s only one Sarita.

Perhaps she does not look the way they say she looked in Kiniwata.” “She doesn’t.” The impact of the girl’s appearance made me forget tact. “I heard she was homely. They all make fun of you because you let yourself be cheated by Sam Karoo.”

“You think eight cows were too many?” A smile slid over his lips. “No. But how can she be so different?” “Do you ever think,” he asked, “what it must mean to a woman to know that her husband settled on the lowest price for which she can be bought? And then later, when the women talk, they boast of what their husbands paid for them. One says four cows; another maybe six. How does she feel, the woman who was sold for one or two? This could not happen to my Sarita.”

“Then you did this just to make her happy?” I asked.

“I wanted Sarita to be happy, yes. But I wanted more than that. You say she is different. This is true. Many things can change a woman. Things that happen inside; things that happen outside. But the thing that matters most is what she thinks about herself. In Kiniwata, Sarita believed she was worth nothing. Now she knows she is worth more than any other woman in the islands.”

“Then you wanted . . . ” “I wanted to marry Sarita. I loved her and no other woman.” “But . . . ” “But,” he finished softly, “I wanted an eight‐cow wife.”

LOOKING AHEAD . . .

Someone said, “We are not what we think we are. We are not even what others think we are. We are what we think others think we are.” In other words, our estimation of our value as human beings is greatly influenced by the way people respond to us and the respect or disdain they reveal day by day. Those interactions shape our self‐concepts and are translated into the nuances of our personalities.

Johnny Lingo was, indeed, a brilliant man. He was astute enough to know that his negotiations with Sarita’s father would seal forever the self‐concept of the woman he loved. That’s why Sarita revealed such confidence and beauty. Let me say to the husbands and wives reading this book: You have the power to elevate or debase each other’s self‐esteem. Rather than tear down, don’t miss a single opportunity to build up.

It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters. – Epictetus

This quote is something we all know but also easily forget.

It’s easy to get caught up in worrying about what has happened and what will happen instead of focusing on what is right in front of us.

It’s also possible to control our attitude regardless of the circumstances.

It begins with filling our minds with positive thoughts.

Fill your mind today positive thoughts about the situations you find yourself in.

You won’t be perfect, just try to do better than yesterday.

Make it a great day.

Jake